Aboriginal And Indigenous Peoples History Essay

2. The Incas were found to be very educated and sophisticated people as they devised their own way of living up in the Andean Area which was made up of many varied geological areas. They had well designed storehouses and intricate architectural constructions displaying their vast knowledge of architectonics. Stones weighing several tonnes fitted together so well that no mortar was needed in the process of their constructions. Although the Incas idea of time was unlike others’, they had established systems of agriculture, transport and communication routes giving us the impression that they were very knowledgeable people and were capable of even further advancing in technology.

The Incas were very self-reliant with enough food, clothing and shelter for their communities and used their resources efficiently, storing the remains for times of need. They were able to produce their own crops but only made enough for themselves, which meant they had to trade with neighbouring tribes to obtain what they didn’t have. Some of their main crops included maize corn, cotton and potatoes. The Incas made good use of the climate of the different regions of the Incan Empire. The adapting of the climates also meant that they had different jobs for the various regions of the Andean Area so they would be able to get more out of their trade. For specific areas, people had a combination of several occupations as it was more productive that way.

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During contact and Comparison to Aboriginal Contact:

1. The Spanish

2. The people who colonised the Inca Empire of the Andes were the Spanish. The Spaniards had previously conquered the Aztecs and were now moving onto the Andean area where the Incas dwelled. A man named Francisco Pizarro along with some other Spanish men made a total of three expeditions to the Andes in an attempt to conquer the Incan Empire.

The first expedition was made alone by Francisco Pizarro himself in 1524-1525 and he had only just entered the coast of Columbia. As Pizarro was friendly towards the Incas, they offered him gold and silver as a welcoming and sign of benevolence. Pizarro then made a second voyage to the Andean Area but this time he was accompanied by Bartholomew Ruíz, his ship captain and other Spanish conquistadors. Ruíz brought back to Pizarro many tales about the riches and the rising population and society of the Incas. He also brought back two traders from whom the Spaniards learnt many things from such as about their endless amounts of gold and silver supplies and the magnificent Inca cities. Hearing this, Pizarro had even more desire to conquer the Incas for their abundant amounts of wealth. They also wanted to colonise the land due to them thinking they were a superior race with a moral duty to change the ‘heathens’ they found to Christianity to rule and utilize them. Hence, on their third trip to the Andean Area, the Spaniards approached them with the purpose of conquest and conversion.

3. The minority of the Spaniards had any desire to engage with the civilisations that they conquered at that time, meaning that most did not wish to socialise with the Incas. Although, at the beginning of Pizarro’s expedition to the unknown Andean Area, he only came with the initial thought of exploring the land, and without the intention of colonising them, meaning that his first encounter with the Incas was surprisingly friendly. However, as he was welcomed with such kindness by the Incas who even offered to give him gold and silver (which he accepted), he suddenly had the greed and aspiration to take it all from them for himself just from seeing the huge amounts of wealth they had. From his original friendly exploration to the discovery of the Incan gold, Pizarro then made it war between the Spaniards and the Incas.

On their third journey to the Andes, Pizarro and the Spanish, who said they brought the Incas no harm, were welcomed by the Inca Emperor Atahuallpa who thought the foreigners were to bring him good fortune. Nevertheless, their foolish emperor was greatly mistaken, for Pizarro had deceived Atahuallpa, and kidnapped him. Pizarro and the Spaniards subsequently held the Incas’ emperor for ransom, and in return he got more gold. Even so, they then killed their emperor and further prepared for their plan to colonise the Andean Area.

4. The Incas at first, meeting with Pizarro were friendly and gave him gold to welcome him to their humble land. Unfortunately Pizarro then had the need to be greedy and take their gold and decided war against them. Due to him kidnapping their emperor, the Incas gave him gold so they could try to get their leader back. Sadly, although Pizarro got his gold, he still killed Atahuallpa. This signalled the Incas that it was war between the two cultures. The Incas readily prepared themselves and outnumbered the Spanish greatly when it got to the war so they were not worried at all. Those who didn’t fight fled and hid high in the mountains. However, the Incas were conquered extremely easily by the Spanish. But how on earth did such a large army get defeated by another that was only a fraction of its size? It was simple; a lot of the Incan army died from diseases such as smallpox and the flu that the Spanish carried with them when they came to the Andean Area which spread across the area infecting many. This reduced the size of the Incan army greatly and gave more advantage to the Spanish. The conquistadors were also able to persuade other tribes already under the Incan rule to be on their side and help bring down the Incan Empire. Last of all, the weapons the Spanish used were much more advanced than the Incan weapons and were never seen by the Incans themselves before. As the Spaniards’ weapons were clearly more advanced, they were also more powerful than the Incas simple arms and resulted in the Spaniards’ easy conquer against the Incan Empire.

5. The experience of colonisation for the Incas was in some ways, similar to the indigenous people of Australia, the Aboriginals. The Europeans who colonised the Aboriginals also gave them smallpox and other diseases like the Spanish, which they could not withstand, causing many of the natives to die due to their weak immune systems. What the two cultures also had in common besides that was the fact that they fought back against the non-indigenous peoples who tried to take control of them and their land and didn’t give up easily. However, the Incas were defeated more easily by the Spanish than the Aboriginals were by the Europeans even though both put up a fight instead of just giving up their land straight away. The Spanish had canons, which were much more advanced than what the Incas had. The Europeans had guns and the Aboriginals had spears, which were also quite weak when the Aboriginals weapons were compared to the Europeans. The Spanish, as previously stated, did not interact with the Andean dwellers, whereas the Europeans made bonds with some of the Aboriginals. Some Europeans even had intimate relationships with the Aboriginals they encountered whilst the Spaniards, in contrast, did not do anything like that with the Incas.

Consequences of Colonisation and Comparison to Aboriginal experience:

1. The Incas, although highly prepared and ready for combat, were easily defeated by the Spanish due to numerous reasons. The demolition of the Incan Empire caused the population to decrease greatly. As the Incas were colonised by the Spaniards, they were taught Christianity although they were still able to follow their old one along with Christianity. The Incas were taught that all men are equal before God and that slaughter was wrong and brutal. Conversely, the Incan religion involved them to sacrifice humans and offer them to Incan Gods. They were also introduced to many other new things such as the wheel, horses to haul heavy loads and sheep and cattle which were used for food and clothing.

Although colonisation for the Incas had its benefits, it had to have its disadvantages as well. Unfortunately, the majority of the Incas at that time died from slavery, famine, sentence of death and disease. The labour the Incas had to go through was so persevering that some poor citizens died from it. Due to the Spanish rule over the Andean Area, they stole and ate most of the food that the Incas had stored and grown in the past, resulting in a lack of food for the Incas. That then led to many other Incas’ deaths as the amount of food left was not enough to go around. Other Andean dwellers were killed because they were involved in the rebellions against the Spanish. Some, who were lucky, escaped the grasps of the Spanish and managed to build a new life in other villages.

2. For the Spanish, this colonisation was quite rewarding for them at the start, although it led to the death of the Incan civilisation. There were two major things they gained from the conquest over the Incas. One of which was the land that they had taken. Land, at the time of the Spanish colonising the Incas, was very important. Basically, it was the more land that you owned, the more power you had. Another major thing was gold. After conquering the Incas, the Spanish got their wealth that they wanted so badly. Gold was important to the Spanish as they were able to buy goods with it from other countries as well as them just owning it for their own selfish greediness.

The Spaniards along with Francisco Pizarro himself successfully colonised the Incan Empire of the Andean Area for a short period of time. However, approximately 8 years after they assassinated Atahuallpa, Pizarro was assassinated at the age of 70. He was stabbed in the back by a group of men leaving the Spaniards with no leader. After a while, a man named Diego de Almagro took over, and was the man who secretly planned and carried out the murder of Francisco Pizarro. He had personally despised Pizarro as he was more triumphant than he was which influenced his evil scheme. However in 1808, the South American countries formed a revolt against the Spanish which lasted 16 years. Eventually, the Spanish were defeated, and this ended their rule over the Andean Area.

3. The results of colonisation for the indigenous people of Australia compared to the Incas, the indigenous people of the Andean Area, had varying results. Roughly 90% of each of the indigenous tribes was wiped out due to the non-indigenous colonisers for almost the same reasons. The Incas were fortunate to at least have some benefits from the colonisation of their land whereas the Aboriginals had fewer advantages. Some of the Incan traditions still remained whereas the Europeans tried to change the Aboriginal traditions. The Europeans supplied food that the Aborigines didn’t usually eat like meat which made them reliant of the foreigners to supply their food, changing their daily diets. The Europeans struggled to put up a fight with the Aboriginals, and eventually won with a result of the land being colonised by them until this very day as well as them having a place to put their convicts for that time. On the other hand, the Spanish lost their power of colonisation of the Andean Area due to the other bordering South American countries rebelling against their rule over the Incas. The Peruvians to this day, still acknowledge and treat the descendants from the Incas well, whilst some of the people of Australia, didn’t treat the Aboriginals like they should have, which ended up with a Sorry Day to the Aboriginals. As a result of colonisation, both Australia and Peru were greatly impacted by their colonisers, the Europeans and the Spanish.